USA > Tennessee > History of the Twentieth Tennessee regiment volunteer infantry, C.S.A > Part 1
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
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History of the Twentieth Tennessee Regiment Volunteer Infantry, C.S.A.
William Josiah McMurray, Deering J. Roberts, Ralph J. Neal
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Darbard College Library
HARVA
LLVM ACADEMIAS
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FROM THE GIFT OF
JAMES FREEMAN CURTIS (Class of 1899)
OF BOSTON
FOR BOOKS ON THE SOUTH
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WV. J. McMURRAY, M. D. See page 417
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HISTORY
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OF THE
TWENTIETH
Tennessee Regiment Volunteer Infantry,
C. S. A.
BY
W. J. McMURRAY, M.D.
PUBLISHED BY THE PUBLICATION COMMITTEE, CONSISTING OF W. J. McMurray, M.D., Deering J. Roberts, M.D., and Ralph J. Neal. NASHVILLE, TENN. 1904.
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57. LLEGE
APR 24 1913 LIBRARY. Gift of James J. Curtis
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To the WOMEN OF. THE SOUTH, who were the devoted allies of the Confederate Soldiers, whose patriotism never tired or flagged, and whose sacrifices had no limit; to them; and the PRIVATE SOLDIERS OF THE ARMIES OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES,
who cheerfully lived and faithfully served on his meager rations, and deliantly, bravely, and nobly, in the trenches or on the battle line in the open field, in their well-worn, threadbare, and tat- tered gray, were ever ready to do or die for the rights be- queathed to them by their sires, when they signed the compact of 1787, this volume, portraying events that occurred during the period from 1861 to 1865, is most respectfully and sincerely inscribed.
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SURGEON DEERING J. ROBERTS, M. D. See page 442.
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PREFACE.
Since the year 1878, the survivors of "The Twentieth Tennessee Regi- ment Volunteer Infantry " have met in annual Reunion somewhere in the vicinity of Nashville on the Friday nearest to the 19th of September, that day being the anniversary of the Battle of Chickamauga. At the meeting in September, 1900, at Antioch, it was determined that the history of this com- mand was worthy of perpetuation ; and by unanimous vote, I was appointed to write this history, and was made Chairman of the Publication Committee, with Dr. Deering, J. Roberts and Ralph J. Neal, members of the Commit- tee, the latter acting as Secretary and Treasurer.
By devoting all the spare moments of a somewhat busy professional life, complicated with superadded duties, I have been able to compile this volume. A greater part of it was submitted to survivors of the various companies who were at the Reunion held at Old Jefferson, in Rutherford County, in 1902, and at the meeting held in this city at the State Capitol in September, 1903, when there were present sixty-five of the survivors, all the companies being represented by one or more members of the rank and file except Company G, to whom it was all submitted for revision, correction, or alteration, the data for Company G having been furnished by Captain Rob- ert Anderson. With these corrections and alterations, it is most respect- fully submitted to a discriminating public, with the statement, that, if the author is incorrect in his views, the same is chargeable to the sixty-five sur- vivors of the Regiment who rejoiced together in their hours of brilliant achievements, and who mourned in unison in those times of joint trial, tribulation, and trouble.
I have endeavored to give a plain statement of facts as they were pre- sented to me from day to day ; and while my memory and recollection as to these memorable events may to some extent be defective, it is sustained by that of the rank and file who participated therein, and were a part and par- cel of that magnificent array of Southern Chivalry who served under the dashing George B. Crittenden, the irreproachable Albert Sidney Johnson, the correct disciplinarian Braxton Bragg, the heroic John B. Hood, or the
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peerless and immaculate Joseph E. Johnston. The few of those left may be likened unto a field of corn that was swept and broken down by some de- vastating storm, until only a few stalks are left to ripen and produce evi- dence of their class, showing the character of the men of those trying and eventful days.
Much has been written of those memorable years from 1861 to 1865, and much that we cannot accept. Yet,
"Truth when crushed to earth will rise again, For the eternal years of God are hers !"
This history, sanctioned and indorsed by those who helped to make it, we ask an indulgent public to carefully consider as our part of the story, which we are willing to submit to the future.
To Mr. Ralph J. Neal, of Company E, I am indebted for the very full history of that Company, which is his version of the History of the Regi- ment ; and although going over the same ground as that covered by Part III of this volume, is submitted as giving his views and observations.
To Dr. Deering J. Roberts I am under obligations for his revision of the entire work, correcting the proofs, supervising the printing, and other ma- terial assistance.
Credit is given to those who have furnished " Biographical Sketches ; " and while the History of the Twentieth Tennessee Regiment is but a part of the History of the War between the States, my extracts from the various sources have been made with all possible care and caution. My aim has been throughout, to be correct in every detail, falsus in uno, falsus in omne, being a principle that should never be lost sight of by any historian, from the greatest and most renowned to the humblest.
Yours very respectfully and sincerely,
W. J. McMURRAY, M.D.
922 S. Summer St., Nashville, Tenn., January 19, 1904.
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PART I.
CAUSES OF THE WAR.
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MAJ .- GEN WM. B. BATE. See page 375.
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CAUSES OF THE GREAT CIVIL WAR BETWEEN THE STATES.
We of the South believe that there were three great primary causes that brought on the war :- viz-ist-African Slavery. 2nd-Constant encroachment by the Federal or Northern party upon the reserved rights of the Southern States. 3rd-The right to secede from the Federal Union.
The Southern States claimed that the reserved rights of the States that had never been delegated to the Federal Government gave them this right ; which the Federal Government denied.
So it will be seen that when the Southern States believed that their reserved rights had been invaded, their property was about to be destroyed, and their social fabric upturned by the North- ern party, the South did attempt to bring into force these re- served rights, which caused the Federal party to bring on a war of invasion and destruction, that has scarcely been equaled in the annals of civilized or barbarous warfare.
Who can deny any State either North or South these rights, when you read the second and third articles of confederation which say : - " Article 2nd-Each State retains its sovereignty -Freedom and Independence-and every power jurisdiction and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States in Congress." "Article 3rd-The said States hereby severally entered into a firm league of friendship with each other for their common defence, the security of their liberties and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other against all forces offered to or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of their religion, sover- eignty, trade or any other pretence whatever."
The compact of 1787 which finally completed the American Union would never have been signed without the 2nd and 3rd articles, which we will show further on; the New England States were great sticklers for the preservation of these reserved .
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HISTORY OF THE TWENTIETH TENNESSEE REGIMENT
rights; afterwards they were for these rights when it was to their interest-and against them when not; so the war was brought on and the South failed, yet, we have not escaped the hu- miliation of others who have fought and failed. The victors write the history of the vanquished and control public sentiment whether it be true or false, until it finds a lodgement in the pub- lic mind and becomes settled as historical facts. Such is the course that our enemies at the close of the war, and since, have attempted to pursue.
We know that we have been the objects of misrepresentation and bitter calumny, emerging as we did from a four years strug- gle against an enemy nearly five times our numbers and ten times our resources; we had nothing to write and print history with, while we were rich in historical facts.
No nation or people is worthy of a recorded history that is not willing to shed its blood and make sacrifices to sustain established convictions, and surely the South has done this.
Now it behooves us who are living, thirty-eight years after the war, and who participated in it, to write its history as we know it. Let us be an exception to the rule, and write our history as it was made, be it good or bad.
Did the South have sufficient cause to take up arms in defense of her interests as written in the Federal Constitution from its foundation in 1787, and held as law, and respected as law, by the supreme court of the United States until 1860? is one of the principal questions that will be asked by the future historian.
We claim that the South lived faithfully under this compact during that period.
Our independence was declared on July 4th 1776, but the Fed- eral Constitution was not ratified and signed by the States in convention until 1787, eleven years after the declaration of independence.
Our first chief magistrate was George Washington, who was elected from a list of twelve candidates, and during his term of office, the people of the young nation, dividing themselves into two opposing parties, each striving for office advocating diverse principles.
The New England States were led by John Adams of Massa- chusetts, who believed in and advocated the concentration of power
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in the Federal Government, and this was called the Federal party.
The Southern States were led by Thomas Jefferson of Vir- ginia, and maintained State's rights as against Federal encroach- ment, this was the Democratic party. (See Articles of Confedera- tion, Sec, 2.)
The States' rights party believed that all the powers of the individual States that had not been delegated by their authorized delegates, still remained with each State to do with, in her sovereign capacity as she might see fit. The Federal party denied these rights.
These principles advocated by these two parties, were the first stumbling blocks of the then young nation.
After George Washington's term of office was completed, John Adams of Massachusetts, the leader of the Federal party was elected to the presidency in 1797, and it was during his term that the "Alien and Sedition Laws" were passed by the Federal Con- gress, which action was opposed by the statesmen of the South, because in their opinion, these laws invested in the Executive, powers not conferred by the Constitution.
These Alien and Sedition acts were not the only rocks upon which the two parties split during Mr. Adams' term.
The creation of a National Bank was a subject of bitter con- troversy, the men of the North sustained this measure with great energy, while those of the South opposed it as unconstitutional and of doubtful expediency.
In 1801, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, the leader of the Demo- cratic party, was elected to the presidency, and it was during his first term of office that the New England States showed such bitter feeling towards the South, on account of the Southern States refusing to encourage the New England States in their traffic in the slave trade from the African coast.
When President Jefferson proposed the Purchase of Louisiana these same New England States violently opposed it, fearing it would give more slave territory, but still they were willing to bring more slaves from the coast of Africa, pay for them in rum and sell them to the Southerners. How can these religious fanatics who have shown that they loved the God of Mammon more than the God of humanity, reconcile these facts?
Thomas Jefferson was re-elected in 1805. During this term
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war existed between England and France, and the Berlin and Milan decrees of Napoleon, also orders from the British Govern- ment interfered with American commerce.
Our vessels were often captured on the high seas and confis- cated. This left Jefferson one of two things to do, Viz ; abandon our trade, or go to war to defend it; so he recommended the Embargo Act, which was to put a stop to our foreign trade rather than plunge the nation into war with France or England, or probably both.
This act was passed in Dec. 1807, and was strongly opposed by the Northern men, because they said it would interfere with their shipping and damage them materially, and they would not stand it.
So the Eastern States threatened to secede from the American Union and form a Northern Confederacy. Now if the New Eng- land States had a right to secede in 1807, to protect their shipping or plunge the whole nation into war to save their commerce, why did not the South have the right to secede in 1861 to protect the slave property that New England had sold to the South for gold, and which they paid for in rum made from molasses?
In 1809 James Madison of Virginia, was elected president, and the Embargo Act was repealed to satisfy the New England people, and another law was passed in May 1809, known as the Non-intercourse law. This law prohibited the American people from trading with England or France.
But New England, true to her love for the dollar, in violation of the law, carried on an indirect trade with Europe through Canada. These wildcat vessels were often overtaken and the American flag hauled down, until the people compelled Congress to declare war against Great Britian in May 1812.
In 1813, James Madison was re-elected, the second war with Great Britian came on, and the expenses of the war had to be met by a direct tax upon the States; but the New England States, for the most part, refused to contribute, after they had virtually brought on the war.
At the close of the war in January 1815, the Federal treasury was much depleted, and a new financial policy was adopted, viz ; - A high tariff. This suited the New Englander because he had transferred his capital in negroes to commerce and manufac-
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tories, and he wanted it protected. They had also sold most of their negro slaves to the southern people and put their money into machinery.
Although the South thought this high tariff would not benefit her section, many of her representatives supported the measure in order to appease their threatening secession brethren in the North.
It was at this time that John Calhoun of South Carolina intro- duced the "Minimum Rate Bill," which was, not to allow duties to fall below a certain rate.
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Mr. Monroe of Virginia, was elected president in 1817, and the country was at peace until 1820, when Missouri applied to be admitted into the Federal union as a slave state, which New England opposed, almost to a man, on account of extending slave territory, having by this time sold her slaves to the South and put her money into factories, therefore she had no further inter- est in the negro as property.
They did not want the South to carry negro property, that had been bought from New England into this territory, although the South had expended as much, if not more, in its acquisition than the North.
The Louisiana Purchase was brought about by Thomas Jeffer- son and his party, while the Eastern men violently opposed it.
Missouri was finally admitted as a slave state, with a compro- mise, viz ; that hereafter no slave state should be created north of the parallel of latitude, 36.30.
After James Monroe's re-election in 1821, among the first things demanded by New England was more protection for her manufactories; the South opposed this action, as she thought the tariff was high enough, and a further increase would be det- rimental to her section which was agricultural.
In 1825, John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, was elected president, and during his term the bitter tariff fight was again revived between the two sections, and in 1828 a new tariff act was passed which was so high it was almost prohibitory. The average on imports was 40 per cent.
This act in the eyes of the Southern men was so outrageous, that they called it the Black Tariff.
In 1829, Andrew Jackson of Tennessee, the old war horse of
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HISTORY OF THE TWENTIETH TENNESSEE REGIMENT
the Hermitage, was elected president, and it was during his first term, in March, 1833, that the high tariff act, so obnoxious to the South was modified, and it was during this controversy that the South Carolina representatives grew so bitter, saying it was unjust and unconstitutional for the government to pass laws that would enrich one section of the country, and impoverish the other ; so they followed the example set by the New England States in 1807, and threatened to secede.
In 1833, Andrew Jackson entered upon his second term as president, and it was during this term that the National Bank issue came to the front again.
The Northern men said it was necessary for their trade and commerce, as they had now ceased trading in negroes and had invested in factories and shipping.
The South denied this necessity and its constitutionality, be- lieving that it would become a political machine in the hands of unscrupulous men and politicians, and would do much harm.
The charter of the United States Bank expired in 1836. Dur- ing the latter part of Jackson's term another trouble sprang up, upon which the two sections could not agree, this was the in- ternal improvement policy. The South opposed it because it favored one section at the cost of the other. The North said that it did not.
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Martin Van Buren a Jackson man, who was elected to succeed "Old Hickory" in 1837. During his term a great financial dis- tress came upon the country, and the Northern politicians pro- posed as a remedy, three things, viz :- A new National Bank, as the charter of the old National Bank had expired in 1836. 2nd -A higher tariff. 3rd-A bankrupt law.
To all three of these measures the South was opposed, and alleged that they were not necessary, and had a sectional tend- ency.
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The fight went on until 1841, when William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, was elected president and who soon died, when Vice- President John Tyler, of Virginia, succeeded to the presidency.
Although Tyler was a Southern man, Northern policies mostly prevailed ; the tariff was raised in 1841, and again in August, 1842.
A bankrupt law was passed in 1841. A law was also passed in July, 1841, dividing the public domain among the respective
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States according to population ; all of these were Northern meas- ures.
The New England people looked at the public domain action this way : by passing it, it would cut off from the Federal treasury the receipts from the public lands, thereby making a higher tariff necessary to insure sufficient revenue for the support of the government.
The new bank act failed, and in eighteen months the bankrupt law was repealed, as was also the public domain act in January, 1842, as it was found necessary to retain these public lands as security for federal loans.
We have now come to the year 1845, when James K. Polk, another son of the old Volunteer State, was promoted to the chief magistracy of the Federal Union.
It was during the early part of his term in July, 1846, that the tarriff so sorely oppressive to the South, was modified.
The president in a special message to Congress in May, 1846, stated that the Government of Mexico had committed some bel- licose acts against the United States Government.
At the reading of this message all sections and all men stopped their internal bickering, and declared war against Mexico, which war lasted until February, 1848, when at the treaty of Gauda- lupe Hidalgo, Mexico ceded to the United States, New Mexico and California.
After the war with Mexico had been fought and won, and General Zachary Taylor of Mississippi, who was one of our most successful Generals, was elected in 1849 to the presidency, the country returned to peace, the old issues between the North and the South were abandoned, viz :- A tariff policy, a National Bank, a system of internal improvements, and the division of public lands.
It looked as if we were going to have a millennium, but not so. The recently acquired land offered the politicians of both sec- tions a bone of contention.
They remind the student of history of the John and Simon fac- tions of Jerusalem, that were always at war with each other, but but when a common enemy would approach they would stop their diversions, unite their forces, drive off the enemy ; then return to the city and again begin their internecine war. In
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HISTORY OF THE TWENTIETH TENNESSEE REGIMENT
this way they had so weakened and consumed their strength, when Titus, of Rome, A. D. 72, invaded them, they fell victims to him on account of their own folly.
The North said that no part of this newly ceded territory, viz : -California and New Mexico, should be admitted as slave terri- tory ; but the South said their joint right of occupancy was incontestable in law and equity ; as their blood, valor and money, had done as much as that of the North to win these lands. They proposed as a remedy that Congress extend the old Missouri Com- promise line of 36.30 west to the Pacific coast, and let the por- tion North of this line be free territory, and that South of it, slave territory.
But the Northern men would not agree to this, they wanted it all, and got it. The feeling was so high then that separation was imminent.
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